C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S

Third edition

UNDERSTANDING

THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS

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 UNDERSTANDING

THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS

Third edition

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Rome, 2006
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 Contents

v
PREFACE

1
the codex achievement

5
origins of the codex alimentarius

10
What is the Codex Alimentarius?

13
The Codex system: the Codex Alimentarius Commission
and how it works

21
Codex and science

25
Codex and consumers

29
Codex and the international food trade

33
More than Codex: FAO, WHO and wider partnerships

37
codex and the future

39
abbreviations
 Preface

The Codex Alimentarius, or the food code, has become the global reference
point for consumers, food producers and processors, national food control
agencies and the international food trade. The code has had an enormous
impact on the thinking of food producers and processors as well as on the
awareness of the end users – the consumers. Its influence extends to every
continent, and its contribution to the protection of public health and fair
practices in the food trade is immeasurable.
The Codex Alimentarius system presents a unique opportunity for
all countries to join the international community in formulating and
harmonizing food standards and ensuring their global implementation. It
also allows them a role in the development of codes governing hygienic
processing practices and recommendations relating to compliance with those
standards.
The significance of the food code for consumer health protection was
underscored in 1985 by the United Nations Resolution 39/248, whereby
guidelines were adopted for use in the elaboration and reinforcement of
consumer protection policies. The guidelines advise that “When formulating
national policies and plans with regard to food, Governments should take
into account the need of all consumers for food security and should support
and, as far as possible, adopt standards from the … Codex Alimentarius or,
in their absence, other generally accepted international food standards”.
The Codex Alimentarius has relevance to the international food trade. With
respect to the ever-increasing global market, in particular, the advantages of
having universally uniform food standards for the protection of consumers
are self-evident. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement)
and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) both
encourage the international harmonization of food standards. Products of
the Uruguay Round of multinational trade negotiations, these Agreements
cite international standards, guidelines and recommendations as the
preferred measures for facilitating international trade in food. As such,
Codex standards have become the benchmarks against which national food
measures and regulations are evaluated within the legal parameters of the
World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements.
This booklet was first published in 1999 to foster a wider understanding
of the evolving food code and of the activities carried out by the Codex
Alimentarius Commission – the body responsible for compiling the
standards, codes of practice, guidelines and recommendations that constitute
the Codex Alimentarius. Since the first publication there have been many
changes to the way in which the Codex works. A new edition of this popular
booklet is therefore timely and necessary for understanding the Codex
Alimentarius in the twenty-first century.
 The Codex achievement
Since the first steps were taken in 1961 to establish
a Codex Alimentarius, the Codex Alimentarius
Commission – the body charged with developing a
food code – has drawn world attention to the field of
food quality and safety. Now, for almost 50 years, all
important aspects of food pertaining to the protection
of consumer health and fair practices in the food trade
have come under the Commission’s scrutiny.
Codex Alimentarius on the Internet:
www.codexalimentarius.net
A single international
reference point
The best traditions of the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO) and the World Health
Organization (WHO) have encouraged
food-related scientific and technological
research as well as discussion. In doing so,
they have lifted the world community’s
awareness of food safety and related
issues to unprecedented heights. The
Codex Alimentarius Commission,
established by the two Organizations in
the 1960s, has become the single most

 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
The Codex achievement
important international reference point
for developments associated with food
standards.
Greater global and national
awareness
Throughout much of the world, an
increasing number of consumers and
governments are becoming aware of
food quality and safety issues and are
realizing the need to be selective about
the foods people eat. It is now common
for consumers to demand that their
governments take legislative action to
ensure that only safe food of acceptable
quality is sold and that the risk of food-
borne health hazards is minimized. It is
fair to say that, through its elaboration of
Codex standards and its consideration of
all related issues, the Codex Alimentarius
Commission has helped significantly to put
 food as an entity on political agendas. In
fact, governments are extremely conscious
of the political consequences to be expected
should they fail to heed consumers’
concerns regarding the food they eat.
Increased consumer protection
The Codex Alimentarius Commission has
been supported in its work by the now
universally accepted maxim that people
have the right to expect their food to be
safe, of good quality and suitable for
consumption. Food-borne illnesses are at
best unpleasant – at worst they can be fatal.
But there are other consequences. Outbreaks
of food-borne illness can damage trade and
tourism and can lead to loss of earnings,
unemployment and litigation. Poor-
quality food can destroy the commercial
credibility of suppliers, both nationally
and internationally, while food spoilage is
wasteful and costly and can adversely affect
trade and consumer confidence.
The positive effect of the Commission’s
work has also been enhanced by the
declarations produced by international
conferences and meetings that have,
Fostering consumer protection
worldwide
1985
United Nations General Assembly
Guidelines for consumer protection
Stated that:
“When formulating national policies and plans with
regard to food, Governments should take into account
the need of all consumers for food security and should
support and, as far as possible, adopt standards from
the Food and Agriculture Organization’s ... and the
World Health Organization’s Codex Alimentarius ...”.
1991
FAO/WHO Conference on Food Standards,
Chemicals in Food and Food Trade
(in cooperation with GATT)
Agreed that:
...“The process of harmonizing national food
regulations to bring them into line with international
standards and recommendations was an urgent one,
which needed to be accelerated ...”
and that:
“Provisions essential for consumer protection (health,
safety of food, etc.) should be the focus of emphasis in
Codex standards ...”.
1992
FAO/WHO International Conference
on Nutrition
Recognized that:
“Access to nutritionally adequate and safe food is a
right of each individual.”
and that:
“Food regulations ... should fully take into account the
recommended international standards of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission.”
1995
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures and Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade
Formally recognized:
International standards, guidelines and
recommendations, including the Codex Alimentarius,
as reference points for facilitating international trade
and resolving trade disputes in international law.
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
The Codex achievement
1996
FAO World Food Summit
Committed itself to:
“Implement policies aimed at ... improving physical
and economic access by all, at all times, to sufficient,
nutritionally adequate and safe food and its effective
utilization.”
and to:
“Apply measures, in conformity with the Agreement
on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary
Measures and other relevant international agreements,
that ensure the quality and safety of food supply ... “.
2000
Fifty-Third World Health Assembly
Recognized:
“The importance of the standards, guidelines and
other recommendations of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission for protecting the health of consumers
and assuring fair trading practices ...”
and urged Member States to:
“Participate actively in activities in the emerging area
of food safety risk analysis.”
2002
World Food Summit: five years later
Stated:
“We reaffirm the important role of Codex Alimentarius
… to provide effective, science-based, internationally
accepted standards of food safety … as well as to
facilitate international food and agricultural trade.”
2004
Second FAO/WHO Global Forum of Food Safety
Regulators
Affirmed:
“The Codex system provides an important opportunity
for countries to work together to develop international
standards in a representative manner. … Developing
countries would benefit from greater use of basic
Codex texts when building their food control systems.”
themselves, been influenced by the
Commission’s activities. Over the past
20 years, national representatives to
the United Nations General Assembly,
the FAO/WHO Conference on Food
Standards, Chemicals in Food and Food
Trade (held in cooperation with the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade [GATT]),
the FAO/WHO International Conference
on Nutrition, the FAO World Food Summit
and the WHO World Health Assembly
have either encouraged or committed their
countries to adopt measures ensuring the
safety and quality of foods. The Global Fora
of Food Safety Regulators have noted that
the Codex system provides an important
opportunity for countries to work together
to develop international standards in a
representative manner.
Broad community involvement
The role of the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission has evolved with the
development of the Codex itself. The
task of creating a food code is immense
and, because of continuing research and
product development, virtually endless.
The finalization of food standards and their
compilation into a code that is credible
and authoritative requires extensive
consultation as well as the collection and
evaluation of information, followed up by
confirmation of final results and sometimes
objective compromise to satisfy differing
sound, scientifically based views.
Creating standards that at once protect
consumers, ensure fair practices in the sale
of food and facilitate trade is a process
that involves specialists in numerous
food-related scientific disciplines,
together with consumers’ organizations,
production and processing industries,
food control administrators and traders.
As more people become involved in the
formulation of standards and as the Codex
Alimentarius – including related codes
and recommendations – covers further
ground, so the Commission’s activities are
becoming better known and its influence
strengthened and widened.
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
The Codex achievement
Scientifically sound standards
While the Codex Alimentarius as it stands
is a remarkable achievement, it would be
quite wrong to see it as the only product
of the Codex Alimentarius Commission,
although it is the most important.
Resulting from the creation of the Codex,
another major accomplishment has been
to sensitize the global community to the
danger of food hazards as well as to the
importance of food quality and hence to
the need for food standards.
By providing an international focal
point and forum for informed dialogue
on issues relevant to food, the Codex
Alimentarius Commission fulfils a
crucial role. In support of its work on
food standards and codes of practice,
it generates reputable texts for the
management of food safety and consumer
protection based on the work of the best-
informed individuals and organizations
 concerned with food and related fields.
Countries have responded by introducing
long-overdue food legislation and Codex-
based standards and by establishing or
strengthening food control agencies to
monitor compliance with such regulations.
Evaluating the outcome
After 40 years of Codex operations, FAO
and WHO decided to undertake a formal
evaluation of the Codex programme in
2002. An independent evaluation team
conducted over 20 country visits and
sought information from an open call for
public comment on the Internet. A group
of independent experts representing all
stakeholders was formed, and detailed
questionnaires were sent to all member
governments and observer organizations.
The results were enlightening and
mostly positive. The evaluation found
Codex food standards to be given very
high importance by members. Codex
standards were considered a vital
component in promoting food control
systems designed to protect consumer
health, including issues related to
international trade and the SPS and TBT
Agreements of WTO. The full report of
the evaluation can be found on the Codex
Web site.
As part of the evaluation, governments
were asked in what ways Codex standards
were important for their countries. Low-
and middle-income countries found them
very important in protecting the health
of their consumers by ensuring safe
food, whether produced domestically
or imported, and for trade facilitation
domestically and internationally. High-
income countries, with better-developed
domestic food legislation and control
systems, placed more emphasis on the
Codex for export facilitation and ensuring
the safety of food imports. Producer
and consumer non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) also rated Codex
standards as very important in all their
functions.
Nevertheless, the evaluation found
that there were four main areas for
improvement:
• greater speed in Codex and expert
scientific advice;
• increased inclusiveness of developing
member countries in the Codex
standard development process,
including risk assessment;
• greater usefulness of standards
to member countries in terms
of relevance to their needs and
timeliness; and
• more effective capacity-building for
development of national food control
systems.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission,
FAO, WHO and their partners are
currently implementing the findings of the
evaluation.
The evaluation confirmed that the
Codex Alimentarius now has such
a well-established reputation as an
international reference that it has
become customary for health authorities,
government food control officials,
manufacturers, scientists and consumer
advocates to ask first of all: What does
the Codex Alimentarius have to say? –
a notable achievement indeed.
 Origins of the Codex Alimentarius
The Codex Alimentarius is the product of a long
evolutionary process involving a wide cross-section of
the global community. Many people representing many
interests and disciplines have been involved in the
process, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that, as
long as the need perceived by those people remains, so
the Codex Alimentarius will remain.
Codex Alimentarius on the Internet:
www.codexalimentarius.net
fao / 8909 / J. Van acker
Ancient times
Evidence from the earliest historical
writings indicates that governing
authorities were already then concerned
with codifying rules to protect consumers
from dishonest practices in the sale of
food. Assyrian tablets described the
method to be used in determining the
correct weights and measures for food
grains, and Egyptian scrolls prescribed the
labelling to be applied to certain foods.
In ancient Athens, beer and wines were
inspected for purity and soundness, and
the Romans had a well-organized state
food control system to protect consumers

 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Origins of the Codex Alimentarius

from fraud or bad produce. In Europe

during the Middle Ages, individual
countries passed laws concerning the Milestones in the evolution
quality and safety of eggs, sausages, of food standards
cheese, beer, wine and bread. Some of
these ancient statutes still exist today.
ANCIENT TIMES

• Attempts are made by early civilizations to

A scientific base codify foods

The second half of the nineteenth century
saw the first general food laws adopted
and basic food control systems put in
place to monitor compliance. During the
same period, food chemistry came to be
recognized as a reputable discipline, and the
determination of the “purity” of a food was
primarily based on the chemical parameters
of simple food composition. When harmful
industrial chemicals were used to disguise
the true colour or nature of food, the
concept of “adulteration” was extended to
include the use of hazardous chemicals in
 food. Science had begun providing tools
with which to disclose dishonest practices in
the sale of food and to distinguish between
safe and unsafe edible products.
International developments
EARLY 1800s
• Canning is invented
MID-1800s
• Bananas are first shipped to Europe from the
tropics
1800s
• The first general food laws are adopted and
enforcement agencies established
• Food chemistry gains credibility, and reliable
methods are developed to test for food
adulteration
LATE 1800s
• A new era of long-distance food
transportation is ushered in by the first
international shipments of frozen meat from
Australia and New Zealand to the United
Kingdom

EARLY 1900s
In the Austro-Hungarian Empire
between 1897 and 1911, a collection of • Food trade associations attempt to facilitate
standards and product descriptions for world trade through the use of harmonized
standards

1903

• The International Dairy Federation (IDF)

Report of the First Meeting of the
Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on
Nutrition, 1950 – an extract
“Food regulations in different countries are
often conflicting and contradictory. Legislation
governing preservation, nomenclature and
acceptable food standards often varies widely
from country to country. New legislation
not based on scientific knowledge is often
introduced, and little account may be taken
of nutritional principles in formulating
regulations.”
develops international standards for milk
and milk products. (IDF was later to be an
important catalyst in the conception of the
Codex Alimentarius Commission)
1945
• FAO is founded, with responsibilities
covering nutrition and associated
international food standards
1948
• WHO is founded, with responsibilities
covering human health and, in
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Origins of the Codex Alimentarius
particular, a mandate to establish food
standards
1949
• Argentina proposes a regional Latin
American food code, Código Latino-
americano de Alimentos
1950
• Joint FAO/WHO expert meetings begin on
nutrition, food additives and related areas
1953
• WHO’s highest governing body, the World
Health Assembly, states that the widening
use of chemicals in the food industry
presents a new public health problem that
needs attention
1954–1958
• Austria actively pursues the creation of a
regional food code, the Codex Alimentarius
Europaeus, or European Codex Alimentarius
1960
• The first FAO Regional Conference
for Europe endorses the desirability of
international – as distinct from regional –
agreement on minimum food standards and
invites the Organization’s Director-General
to submit proposals for a joint FAO/WHO
programme on food standards to the FAO
Conference
1961
• The Council of the Codex Alimentarius
Europaeus adopts a resolution proposing
that its work on food standards be taken
over by FAO and WHO
1961
• With the support of WHO, the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe
(UNECE), the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD)
and the Council of the Codex Alimentarius
Europaeus, the FAO Conference establishes
the Codex Alimentarius and resolves to
create an international food standards
programme
1961
• The FAO Conference decides to establish
a Codex Alimentarius Commission and
requests an early endorsement by WHO of a
joint FAO/WHO food standards programme
1962
• The Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards
Conference requests that the Codex
Alimentarius Commission implement
a joint FAO/WHO food standards
programme and create the Codex
Alimentarius
1963
• Recognizing the importance of WHO’s role
in all health aspects of food and considering
its mandate to establish food standards,
the World Health Assembly approves

establishment of the Joint FAO/WHO
Food Standards Programme and adopts
the Statutes of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission
a wide variety of foods was developed
as the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus.
Although lacking legal force, it was used
as a reference by the courts to determine
standards of identity for specific foods.
The present-day Codex Alimentarius
draws its name from the Austrian code.
Trade concerns
The different sets of standards arising
from the spontaneous and independent
development of food laws and standards
by different countries inevitably gave rise
to trade barriers that were of increasing
concern to food traders in the early
twentieth century. Trade associations that
were formed as a reaction to such barriers
pressured governments to harmonize their
various food standards so as to facilitate
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Origins of the Codex Alimentarius
trade in safe foods of a defined quality.
The International Dairy Federation (IDF),
founded in 1903, was one such association.
Its work on standards for milk and milk
products later provided a catalyst in the
establishment of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission and in the setting of its
procedures for elaborating standards.
When FAO and WHO were founded
in the late 1940s, there was heightened
international concern about the direction
being taken in the field of food regulation.
Countries were acting independently and
there was little, if any, consultation among
them with a view to harmonization. This
situation is reflected in the observations of
international meetings of the time.
Consumers’ concerns
In the 1940s, rapid progress was made
in food science and technology. With the
 advent of more sensitive analytical tools,
knowledge about the nature of food, its
quality and associated health hazards also
grew quickly. There was intense interest
in food microbiology, food chemistry
and associated disciplines, and new
discoveries were considered newsworthy.
Articles about food at all levels flourished,
The problem of food additives
In 1955, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee
on Nutrition recorded that:
“... the increasing, and sometimes insufficiently
controlled, use of food additives has become a
matter of public and administrative concern.”
The Committee also noted that the means of
solving problems arising from the use of food
additives may differ from country to country
and stated that this fact:
“... must in itself occasion concern, since the
existence of widely differing control measures
may well form an undesirable deterrent to
international trade.”
and consumers were bombarded with
messages in popular magazines, in the
tabloid press and on the radio. Some were
correct, some incorrect – but all were
intended to absorb interest, and many
were overly sensational.
Despite the questionable quality of
some of the information disseminated,
however, the outcome was an increase
in the public’s food consciousness and,
consequently, knowledge about food
safety gradually grew.
At the same time, as more and more
information about food and related
matters became available, there was
greater apprehension on the part of
consumers. Whereas, previously,
consumers’ concerns had extended only
as far as the “visibles”– underweight
contents, size variations, misleading
labelling and poor quality – they now
embraced a fear of the “invisibles”,
i.e. health hazards that could not
be seen, smelled or tasted, such as
micro-organisms, pesticide residues,
environmental contaminants and food
additives. With the blossoming of well-
organized and informed consumers’
groups, both internationally and
nationally, there was growing pressure
on governments worldwide to protect
communities from poor-quality and
hazardous foods.
A desire for leadership
Food regulators, traders, consumers and
experts were looking increasingly to FAO
and WHO for leadership in unravelling
the skein of food regulations that were
impeding trade and providing mostly
inadequate protection for consumers.
In 1953, the governing body of WHO,
the World Health Assembly, stated that
the widening use of chemicals in food
presented a new public health problem,
and it was proposed that the two
Organizations should conduct relevant
studies. One such study identified the use
of food additives as a critical factor.
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Origins of the Codex Alimentarius

As a result, FAO and WHO convened of ensuring quality and of reducing

the first joint FAO/WHO Conference on
Food Additives in 1955. That Conference
led to the creation of the Joint FAO/WHO
Expert Committee on Food Additives
(JECFA), which, after more than 50
years, still meets regularly. JECFA’s
work continues to be of fundamental
importance to the Codex Commission’s
deliberations on standards and guidelines
for food additives, contaminants and
residues of veterinary drugs in foods. It
has served as a model for many other FAO
and WHO expert bodies, and for similar
scientific advisory bodies at the national
level or where countries have joined
together in regional economic groupings.
Integrating non-governmental
activities
While FAO and WHO furthered their
involvement in food-related matters,
a variety of committees set up by
international NGOs also began working
in earnest on standards for food
commodities. In time, the work of those
NGO committees was either assumed by,
or continued jointly with, the appropriate
Codex Alimentarius Commodity
Committees and, in some cases, the non-
governmental committees themselves
became Codex committees.
trade barriers, particularly in the rapidly
integrating market of Europe”.
The Conference also felt that:
“... coordination of the growing number of
food standards programmes undertaken by
many organizations presented a particular
problem”.
Within four months of the regional
conference, FAO entered into discussions
with WHO, the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (UNECE), the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) and the
Council of the Codex Alimentarius
Europaeus with proposals that would lead
to the establishment of an international
food standards programme.
In November 1961, the Eleventh Session
of the FAO Conference passed a resolution
to set up the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission.
In May 1963, the Sixteenth World Health
Assembly approved the establishment
of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards
Programme and adopted the Statutes of
the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

International consultation
and cooperation

Two landmark years in the foundation

of the Codex Alimentarius were 1960
and 1961. In October 1960, the first
FAO Regional Conference for Europe
crystallized a widely held view when it
recognized:

“[t]he desirability of international agreement

on minimum food standards and related
questions (including labelling requirements,
methods of analysis, etc.) ... as an important
means of protecting the consumer’s health,
 What is the Codex Alimentarius?
Simply stated, the Codex Alimentarius is a collection
of standards, codes of practice, guidelines and
other recommendations. Some of these texts are
very general, and some are very specific. Some
deal with detailed requirements related to a food or
group of foods; others deal with the operation and
management of production processes or the operation
of government regulatory systems for food safety and
consumer protection.
Codex Alimentarius on the Internet:
www.codexalimentarius.net
10
fao / 19014 / R. Faidutti
Standards, codes of practice,
guidelines and other
recommendations
Codex standards usually relate to product
characteristics and may deal with all
government-regulated characteristics
appropriate to the commodity, or
only one characteristic. Maximum
residue limits (MRLs) for residues of
pesticides or veterinary drugs in foods
are examples of standards dealing with
only one characteristic. There are Codex
general standards for food additives and
contaminants and toxins in foods that
contain both general and commodity-
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
What is the Codex Alimentarius?
specific provisions. The Codex General
Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged
Foods covers all foods in this category.
Because standards relate to product
characteristics, they can be applied
wherever the products are traded.
Codex methods of analysis and sampling,
including those for contaminants and
residues of pesticides and veterinary
drugs in foods, are also considered Codex
standards.
Codex codes of practice – including
codes of hygienic practice – define the
production, processing, manufacturing,
transport and storage practices for
individual foods or groups of foods that are
considered essential to ensure the safety
and suitability of food for consumption.
For food hygiene, the basic text is the
Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene,
which introduces the use of the Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control Point
(HACCP) food safety management system.
A code of practice on the control of the
use of veterinary drugs provides general
guidance in this area.
Codex guidelines fall into two categories:
• principles that set out policy in certain
key areas; and
• guidelines for the interpretation
of these principles or for the
interpretation of the provisions of the
Codex general standards.
In the cases of food additives,
contaminants, food hygiene and meat
hygiene, the basic principles governing
the regulation of these matters are built
into the relevant standards and codes of
practice.
There are free-standing Codex principles
covering:
• addition of essential nutrients to foods;
• food import and export inspection
and certification;
• establishment and application of
microbiological criteria for foods;
• conduct of microbiological risk
assessment;
• risk analysis of foods derived from
modern biotechnology.
The Codex scorecard
This table gives the number of Codex stan-
dards, guidelines and codes of practice by sub-
ject matter as of July 2006 after the decisions
of the 29th Codex Alimentarius Commission
• Commodity standards –186
• Commodity related texts – 46
• Food Labelling – 9
• Food Hygiene  – 5
• Food safety risk assessment  –  3
•Sampling and analysis – 15
•Inspection and certification procedures – 8
•Animal food production – 6
• Contaminants in foods (maximum levels,
detection and prevention) – 12
• Food additives provisions – 1 112, covering
292 food additives
• Food additives related texts – 7
• Maximum limits for pesticide residues –
2 930, covering 218 pesticides
• Maximum limits for veterinary drugs in 11
foods  – 441, covering 49 veterinary drugs
•Regional Guidelines – 3
Interpretative Codex guidelines include
those for food labelling, especially the
regulation of claims made on the label.
This group includes guidelines for
nutrition and health claims; conditions
for production, marketing and labelling
of organic foods; and foods claimed to
be “halal”. There are several guidelines
that interpret the provisions of the
Codex Principles for Food Import and
Export Inspection and Certification,
and guidelines on the conduct of safety
assessments of foods from DNA-modified
plants and micro-organisms.
Commodity standards
By far the largest number of specific
standards in the Codex Alimentarius is
the group called “commodity standards”.
The major commodities included in the
Codex are:
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
What is the Codex Alimentarius?
• cereals, pulses (legumes) and derived
products including vegetable proteins
• fats and oils and related products
• fish and fishery products
• fresh fruits and vegetables
• processed and quick-frozen fruits and
vegetables
• fruit juices
• meat and meat products; soups and
broths
• milk and milk products
• sugars, cocoa products and chocolate
and other miscellaneous products
Commodity standards tend to
follow a fixed format set out in
the Procedural Manual of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission. The format
consists of the following categories of
information:
• Scope includes the name of the food
to which the standard applies and, in
most cases, the purpose for which the
commodity will be used.
12 • Description includes a definition of the
product or products covered with an
indication, where appropriate, of the
raw materials from which they are
derived.
• Essential composition includes
information on the composition and
identity characteristics of the
commodity, as well as any
compulsory and optional ingredients.
• Food additives contains the names
of the additives and the maximum
amount permitted to be added to the
food. Food additives must be cleared
by FAO and WHO for their safety,
and the use of food additives must
be consistent with the Codex General
Standard for Food Additives.
• Contaminants contains limits for
contaminants that may occur in
the product(s) covered by the
standard. These limits are based
on the scientific advice of FAO and
WHO and must be consistent with
the Codex General Standard for
Contaminants and Toxins in Foods.
Where appropriate, reference is also
made to the Codex Maximum Limits
for pesticide residues and for residues
of veterinary drugs in foods.
• Hygiene makes reference to relevant
Codex Codes of Hygienic Practice for
the commodity concerned. In almost
all cases it is required that the product
shall be free from pathogenic micro-
organisms or any toxins or other
poisonous or deleterious substances
in amounts that represent a hazard to
health.
• Weights and measures contains
provisions such as fill of the container
and the drained weight of the
commodity.
• Labelling includes provisions on the
name of the food and any special
requirements to ensure that the
consumer is not deceived or misled
about the nature of the food. These
provisions must be consistent with
the Codex General Standard for the
Labelling of Prepackaged Foods.
Requirements for the listing of
ingredients and date-marking are
specified.
• Methods of analysis and sampling
contains a list of the test methods
needed to ensure that the commodity
conforms to the requirements of
the standard. References are made
to internationally recognized test
methods that meet the Commission’s
criteria for accuracy, precision, etc.
 The Codex system: the Codex Alimentarius
Commission and how it works
The Codex Alimentarius Commission was born of
necessity. Its carefully crafted Statutes and Rules of
Procedure ensure that it pursues its clearly defined
objectives in a disciplined, dispassionate and scientific
way.
Codex Alimentarius on the Internet:
www.codexalimentarius.net
fao / WHO 2003
The Commission
The Eleventh Session of the FAO
Conference in 1961 and the Sixteenth
World Health Assembly in 1963 both
passed resolutions to establish the Codex
Alimentarius Commission. The two
bodies also adopted the Statutes and Rules
of Procedure for the Commission.
The Statutes provide the legal basis for
the Commission’s work and formally
reflect the concepts behind and reasons
for its establishment. Article 1 of the
Statutes provides the Commission with
its purposes, terms of reference and
13
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
The Codex system
objectives. Article 2 defines eligibility for
membership of the Commission, which is
open to all Member Nations and Associate
Members of FAO and WHO. In August
2006, 99 percent of the world’s population
were represented in the Commission
through 174 member countries and
one Member Organization (European
Community).
The Rules of Procedure of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission describe and
formalize working procedures appropriate
to an intergovernmental body. They
provide for:
• conditions of membership of the
Commission;
• appointment of Commission officers,
including the chairperson, three vice-
chairpersons, regional coordinators
and a secretary, and prescribe their
responsibilities;
• establishment of an Executive
14 Committee to meet between
Commission sessions, to act on behalf
of the Commission as its executive
organ;
• frequency and operation of
Commission sessions;
• nature of agendas for Commission
sessions;
• voting procedures;
• observers;
• preparation of Commission records
and reports;
• establishment of subsidiary bodies;
• procedures to be adopted in the
elaboration of standards;
• allocation of a budget and estimates
of expenditure; and
• languages used by the Commission.
Representation. The Commission is
truly an international body. Since it was
formed, there have been chairpersons from
Canada, France, Germany, Hungary,
Indonesia, Mexico, the Netherlands,
Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the
United Kingdom and the United States
of America. Vice-chairpersons have
been drawn from Australia, Canada,
Statutes of the
Codex Alimentarius Commission
ARTICLE 1
The Codex Alimentarius Commission shall ... be
responsible for making proposals to, and shall
be consulted by, the Directors-General of the
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and
the World Health Organization (WHO) on all
matters pertaining to the implementation of the
Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme,
the purpose of which is:
(a) protecting the health of consumers and
ensuring fair practices in the food trade;
(b) promoting coordination of all food
standards work undertaken by international
governmental and non-governmental
organizations;
(c) determining priorities and initiating and
guiding the preparation of draft standards
through and with the aid of appropriate
organizations;
(d) finalizing standards elaborated under (c)
above and, after acceptance by governments,
publishing them in a Codex Alimentarius
either as regional or worldwide standards,
together with international standards
already finalized by other bodies under (b)
above, wherever this is practicable;
(e) amending published standards, after
appropriate survey in the light of
developments.
The purposes or objectives embraced by
Article 1 resulted from a long process of
fashioning and refining. Based on a deep insight
into and understanding of events that led to the
Commission’s establishment, they encapsulate
the intentions of the Commission’s founders.
Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Ghana,
Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Kenya,
Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Senegal,
the Sudan, Switzerland, Thailand, the
United Kingdom, the United Republic
of Tanzania and the United States of
America.
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
The Codex system
Regional representatives to the
Commission have been provided by the
Governments of Argentina, Australia,
Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada,
Cuba, the former Czechoslovakia, Egypt,
France, Germany, Ghana, India, Kenya,
Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
the Philippines, Poland, the Republic of
Korea, Senegal, Thailand, Tunisia, the
former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,
the United Kingdom and the United States
of America.
The Commission normally meets
every two years, alternately at FAO
headquarters in Rome and at WHO
headquarters in Geneva, although on
occasion it may meet more frequently
or in special or extraordinary sessions.
Plenary sessions are attended by as many
as 600 people. Representation at sessions
is on a country basis. National delegations
are led by senior officials appointed by
their governments. Delegations may,
and often do, include representatives
of industry, consumers’ organizations
and academic institutes. Countries that
are not yet members of the Commission
sometimes attend in an observer capacity.
A number of international governmental
organizations and international NGOs
also attend in an observer capacity.
Although they are “observers”, the
tradition of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission allows such organizations to
put forward their points of view at every
stage except in the final decision, which
is the exclusive prerogative of member
governments.
To facilitate continuous contact with
member countries, the Commission, in
collaboration with national governments,
has established country Codex Contact
Points, and many member countries have
National Codex Committees to coordinate
activities nationally.
Interest in Codex Alimentarius activities
has been growing steadily since the
Commission began, and the increasing
involvement of developing countries in its
work has been a highlight of the progress
made, as well as a vindication of the
foresight shown by the founders of the
Commission.
The Commission’s operations
Compiling the Codex Alimentarius
As stated in Article 1 of the Commission’s
Statutes, one of the principal purposes of
the Commission is the preparation of food
standards and their publication in the
Codex Alimentarius.
The legal base for the Commission’s
operations and the procedures it is
required to follow are published in the
Procedural Manual of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission. Like all other aspects of the
Commission’s work, the procedures for
preparing standards are well defined, open
and transparent. In essence they involve:
• The submission of a proposal for a
standard to be developed by a
national government or a subsidiary 15
committee of the Commission. This
is usually followed by a discussion
paper that outlines what the proposed
standard is expected to achieve, and
then a project proposal that indicates
the time frame for the work and its
relative priority.
• A decision by the Commission or the
Executive Committee that a standard be
developed as proposed. “Criteria for
the Establishment of Work Priorities”
exist to assist the Commission
or Executive Committee in their
decision-making and in selecting the
subsidiary body to be responsible
for steering the standard through
its development. If necessary, a
new subsidiary body – usually a
specialized task force – may be
created.
• The preparation of a proposed
draft standard is arranged by the
Commission Secretariat and circulated
to member governments for comment.
• Comments are considered by the
subsidiary body that has been
allocated responsibility for the
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
The Codex system
development of the proposed
draft standard, and this subsidiary
body may present the text to the
Commission as a draft standard.
The draft may also be referred to
the Codex Committees responsible
for labelling, hygiene, additives,
contaminants or methods of analysis
for endorsement of any special advice
in these areas.
• Most standards take a number of
years to develop. Once adopted by
the Commission, a Codex standard is
added to the Codex Alimentarius.
Revising and adapting: keeping the
Codex Alimentarius up to date
The Commission and its subsidiary
bodies are committed to keeping the
Codex standards and related texts up to
date to ensure that they are consistent
with current scientific knowledge and
with the needs of the member countries.
16 Most countries now require less-
prescriptive standards – especially for
commodities – than those developed in
the 1970s and 1980s. The Commission
keeps abreast of these changes, and it
has been consolidating its many older,
detailed standards into new, more
THE CODEX STANDARDS PROCESS
GETTING STARTED CRITICAL REVIEW
Initial proposal Criteria and priorities
Discussion paper Proceed?
YES
NO
Revised
Project proposal or
abandoned
COMMITTEE LEVEL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
general standards. The benefits of
this approach are that it allows wider
coverage and allows for innovation in
the development of new food products.
Of course, the scientific basis for
consumer protection is maintained and
strengthened by this process of review
and renewal.
The procedure for revision or
consolidation follows that used for the
initial preparation of standards.
Subsidiary bodies
Under its Rules of Procedure, the
Commission is empowered to establish
two kinds of subsidiary body:
• Codex Committees, which prepare
draft standards for submission to the
Commission;
• Coordinating Committees, through
which regions or groups of countries
coordinate food standards activities in
the region, including the development
of regional standards.
A feature of the committee system is
that, with few exceptions, each committee
is hosted by a member country, which
is chiefly responsible for the cost of
ELABORATION APPROVAL AND ADOPTION
Mid-term review
Consultation with
Optional
governments and
Endorsement*
interested parties and
Committee debate *by General Committees
Final standard,
guideline, etc.
COMMITTEES
AND TASK FORCES COMMISSION
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
The Codex system

the committee’s maintenance and

administration and for providing its
The Codex step procedure chairperson. The designation of host
countries for the committees is a standing
Before a decision is made to undertake the item on the agenda for the Commission.
development of a new standard or other text, a
project proposal is prepared and discussed at General Subject Committees
Committee level. These Committees are so called
because their work has relevance for all
Commodity Committees and, because
Step 1
this work applies across the board
The project proposal is reviewed by the to all commodity standards, General
Executive Committee and compared against Subject Committees are sometimes
the criteria and priorities established by the referred to as “horizontal committees”.
Commission. General Subject Committees develop
all-embracing concepts and principles
Steps 2, 3 and 4 applying to foods in general, specific
foods or groups of foods; endorse or
A draft text is prepared (Step 2) and circulated to
review relevant provisions in Codex
member countries and all interested parties for
commodity standards; and, based on the
comment (Step 3). The draft and the comments
advice of expert scientific bodies, develop
are reviewed at Committee level (Step 4) and, if
major recommendations pertaining to
necessary, a new draft is prepared.
consumers’ health and safety.
The Committee on General Principles 17
Step 5 advises the Commission on such basic
The Commission reviews the progress matters as definitions, the Rules of
made and agrees that the draft should go to Procedure, rules and working procedures
finalization. After this stage, the draft is also for the establishment and operation of
endorsed by the relevant General Subject Codex Committees and Task Forces,
Committees so that it is consistent with Codex relations with other organizations and
general standards.* the general principles that underlie the
preparation of all Codex standards, codes
of practice and other texts.
Steps 6 and 7 Six of the General Subject Committees
The approved draft is sent again to governments have the responsibility of ensuring that
and interested parties for comment and specific provisions in Codex commodity
finalized by the relevant Committee. The draft standards are in conformity with the
is submitted to the Commission for adoption. Commission’s main general standards
and guidelines in their particular areas of
competence. They are:
Step 8
• Committee on Food Additives
Following a final round of comments, the • Committee on Contaminants in Foods
Commission adopts the draft as a formal Codex • Committee on Food Hygiene
text. The standard, guideline or other text is • Committee on Food Labelling
then published by the Codex Secretariat. • Committee on Methods of Analysis
and Sampling
• Committee on Nutrition and Foods
* Sometimes the text is considered to be ready for final
adoption at this stage – often called Step 5/8. for Special Dietary Uses
These Committees may also develop
standards, maximum limits for additives
and contaminants, codes of practice
or other guidelines for either general
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
The Codex system
application or in specific cases where the
development of a complete commodity
standard is not required. For example,
the Committee on Food Hygiene has
developed a Code of Hygienic Practice
for Spices and Dried Aromatic Plants,
and the Committee on Food Additives
and Contaminants (divided into two
committees in 2006) has developed a
Standard for Maximum Levels of Lead
in Foods. The Committees on Food
Labelling and on Nutrition and Foods
for Special Dietary Uses have worked
together to prepare the Codex Guidelines
on Nutrition Claims.
The Committee on Pesticide Residues and
the Committee on Residues of Veterinary
Drugs in Foods prepare MRLs for these two
categories of chemicals used in agricultural
production. The MRLs are based on
scientific advice regarding the safety of the
residues that remain after the substances
are used in accordance with defined good
18 agricultural or veterinary practices.
The Committee on Food Import and
Export Inspection and Certification Systems
deals with the application of standards
to foods moving in international trade,
in particular to the regulatory measures
applied by governments to assure their
trading partners that foods and their
production systems are correctly regulated
to protect consumers against food-
borne hazards and deceptive marketing
practices. The guidelines developed
by the Committee include advice on
how governments should respond to
emergencies in the food safety system,
including channels of communication to the
public and to other governments by means
of the International Food Safety Authorities
Network (INFOSAN) emergency
information system operated by WHO.
Commodity Committees
The responsibility for developing
standards for specific foods or classes
of food lies with the Commodity
Committees. In order to distinguish them
from the “horizontal committees” and
recognize their exclusive responsibilities,
they are often referred to as “vertical
committees”. Commodity Committees
convene as necessary and go into recess
or are abolished when the Commission
decides their work has been completed.
New Committees may be established on
an ad hoc basis to cover specific needs for
the development of new standards. There
are currently five Commodity Committees
that meet regularly:
• Committee on Fats and Oils
• Committee on Fish and Fishery
Products
• Committee on Fresh Fruits and
Vegetables
• Committee on Milk and Milk
Products
• Committee on Processed Fruits and
Vegetables
The following Commodity Committees
work through correspondence or are in
recess:
• Committee on Cereals, Pulses and
Legumes
• Committee on Cocoa Products and
Chocolate
• Committee on Meat Hygiene
• Committee on Natural Mineral
Waters
• Committee on Sugars
• Committee on Vegetable Proteins
Host countries convene meetings of
Codex subsidiary bodies at intervals of
between one and two years, according
to need. Attendance at some Codex
Committees is almost as large as that drawn
by a plenary session of the Commission.
Ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Forces
In 1999, the Commission realized that
its rather inflexible committee structure
was not able to cope with the demand for
standards and guidelines across an ever-
widening range of subjects. It decided
to create a third type of subsidiary body
called a Codex ad hoc Intergovernmental
Task Force, which is a Codex Committee
with very limited terms of reference
established for a fixed period of time.
To date the Commission has established
the following ad hoc Intergovernmental
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
The Codex system
Task Forces:
• Task Force on Animal Feeding,
1999–2004
• Task Force on Foods Derived from
Biotechnology, 1999–2003 and 2005–
2009
• Task Force on Fruit and Vegetable
Juices, 1999–2005
• Task Force on the Handling and
Processing of Quick Frozen Foods,
2006-
• Task Force on Antimicrobial
Resistance, 2006-
Coordinating Committees
Coordinating Committees play an
invaluable role in ensuring that the
work of the Commission is responsive
to regional interests and to the concerns
of developing countries. They normally
meet at two-year intervals, with a good
representation from the countries of
their respective regions. Meeting reports
are submitted to and discussed by the
Commission. The country that chairs
the Coordinating Committee is also the
Regional Coordinator for the region
concerned.
These Committees have no standing
host countries. Meetings are hosted by
countries of a region on an ad hoc basis
and in agreement with the Commission.
There are six Coordinating Committees,
one each for the following regions:
• Africa
• Asia
• Europe
• Latin America and the Caribbean
• Near East
• North America and the Southwest
Pacific
Codex administration
The Secretary of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission is appointed jointly by the
Directors-General of FAO and WHO
following an open worldwide search for
qualified candidates. The Secretary is
supported by a small staff of professional
and technical officers. The Secretariat is
based at FAO headquarters in Rome.
Commission and Executive Committee
meetings are administered and serviced
entirely by the Rome-based staff.
Preparation for these meetings is a
formidable task that involves, among
myriad other things, the compilation of
agenda item papers and the responsibility
for logistical arrangements. The
preparation of Commission meeting
reports is a demanding task in itself,
as the report of each meeting must be
cleared by participants before its closing.
Furthermore, many hours of intense
activity are required to ensure that all
necessary follow-up is carried out after
each meeting.
Many subsidiary committees are hosted,
financially maintained and serviced
by member governments, while the
Commission Secretariat coordinates the
activities and oversees the operations
of these committees. The Secretariat 19
collaborates with subsidiary committee
staff in host countries to decide timing
and venues for meetings, issue invitations
to member countries, finalize agendas and
papers, arrange the recording of meeting
proceedings as well as the preparation
and distribution of meeting reports and
ensure that meeting decisions are acted
on. There may be as many as 20 Codex
committee meetings in any 12-month
period.
Applying Codex standards
The harmonization of food standards is
generally viewed as contributing to the
protection of consumer health and to the
fullest possible facilitation of international
trade. For this reason, the Uruguay
Round Agreements on the Application
of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
and on Technical Barriers to Trade (SPS
and TBT Agreements) both encourage
the international harmonization of food
standards.
While the growing world interest in all
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
The Codex system

Codex activities clearly indicates global Despite these difficulties, however,

acceptance of the Codex philosophy –
embracing harmonization, consumer
protection and facilitation of international
trade – in practice it is difficult for many
countries to accept Codex standards
in the statutory sense. Differing legal
formats and administrative systems,
varying political systems and sometimes
the influence of national attitudes and
concepts of sovereign rights impede the
progress of harmonization and deter the
acceptance of Codex standards.
the process of harmonization is
gaining impetus by virtue of the strong
international desire to facilitate trade and
the desire of consumers around the world
to have access to safe and nutritious foods.
An increasing number of countries are
aligning their national food standards, or
parts of them (especially those relating
to safety), with those of the Codex
Alimentarius. This is particularly so in
the case of additives, contaminants and
residues, i.e. the invisibles.

20
 Codex and science
The first Statement of Principle Concerning the Role
of Science in the Codex Decision-Making Process
and the Extent to Which Other Factors are Taken into
Account says, “The food standards, guidelines and
other recommendations of the Codex Alimentarius
shall be based on the principle of sound scientific
analysis …”.
Codex Alimentarius on the Internet:
www.codexalimentarius.net
fao / 19802 / R. FAIDUTTI
Scientific principles for
standards-setting
From the very beginning, the Codex
Alimentarius has been a science-based
activity. Experts and specialists in a wide
range of disciplines have contributed to
every aspect of the code to ensure that its
standards withstand the most rigorous
scientific scrutiny. It is fair to say that
the work of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission, together with that of FAO
and WHO in their supportive roles, has
provided a focal point for food-related
scientific research and investigation, and
the Commission itself has become an
important international medium for the
21
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Codex and science

exchange of scientific information about

food.
In 1995, the Commission adopted four Recent joint FAO/WHO expert meetings
Statements of Principle Concerning the and consultations
Role of Science in the Codex Decision-
Making Process and the Extent to Which
1995
Other Factors are Taken into Account.
These principles were supplemented • Application of risk analysis to food
by Statements of Principle Relating standards issues
to the Role of Food Safety Risk
1996
Assessment (1997) and by Criteria for
the Consideration of the Other Factors • Biotechnology and food safety
Referred to in the Second Statement of
1997
Principle (2001).
A comprehensive statement of Working • Application of risk management to food
Principles for Risk Analysis in food safety
safety and health was adopted by the • Food consumption and exposure assessment
Commission in 2003 and incorporated of chemicals
into the Procedural Manual of the Codex
1998
Alimentarius Commission.
• Role of government agencies in assessing
HACCP
Expert committees • Application of risk communication to food
22 and consultations standards and safety matters

2000
The Codex Alimentarius has stimulated
activity in the fields of food chemistry, • Safety aspects of genetically modified foods
food technology, food microbiology, of plant origin
mycology, and pesticide and veterinary
2001
drug residues. Much work is carried
out in the form of collaborative studies • Evaluation of the allergenicity of genetically
among individual scientists, laboratories, modified foods
institutes and universities and joint
2002
FAO/WHO expert committees and
consultations. • Acrylamide
FAO and WHO expert meetings are
2003
independent of the Commission (and
the Commission’s subsidiary bodies), • Safety aspects of genetically modified foods
although their output contributes from animals, including fish
significantly to the scientific credibility of
2004
the Commission’s work. The principle of
ensuring the independence of scientific • Biotoxins in molluscan bivalves
advice from practical realities of risk
management has been followed by Codex
from the earliest days.
The main principles of developing • Independence: Experts contribute in
scientific advice are: their own capacity and not on behalf
• Excellence: use of internationally of a government or institution; they
recognized expertise, supported by are required to declare possible
the creation of a platform for global conflicts of interest;
scientific discussions based on best • Transparency: procedures and
practices in elaborating guidance; methods to ensure all interested
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Codex and science
Main FAO/WHO expert bodies
The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on
Food Additives (JECFA) was established in
1955 to consider chemical, toxicological and
other aspects of contaminants and residues
of veterinary drugs in foods for human
consumption. The Codex Committee on
Food Additives, the Codex Committee on
Contaminants in Foods and the Codex
Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs
in Foods identify food additives, contaminants
and veterinary drug residues that should receive
priority evaluation and refer them to JECFA
for assessment before incorporating them into
Codex standards.
Joint FAO/WHO Meetings on Pesticide Residues
(JMPR) began in 1963 following a decision that
the Codex Alimentarius Commission should
recommend maximum residue limits (MRLs)
for pesticide and environmental contaminants
in specific food products to ensure the
safety of foods containing residues. It was
also decided that JMPR should recommend
methods of sampling and analysis. There
is close cooperation between JMPR and the
Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues
(CCPR). CCPR identifies those substances
requiring priority evaluation. After JMPR
evaluation, CCPR discusses the recommended
MRLs and, if they are acceptable, forwards
them to the Commission for adoption as
Codex MRLs.
Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on
Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) began
work in 2000 to develop and provide advice
to the Codex Alimentarius Commission
on microbiological aspects of food safety.
In addition to providing risk assessments,
JEMRA develops guidance on related areas
such as data collection and the application of
risk assessment. JEMRA works most closely
with the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene,
but has also provided advice to other Codex
committees, such as the Committee on Fish
and Fishery Products.
parties understand the processes for
the development of scientific advice
and have access to the reports, safety
assessments and evaluations, and
other basic information; and
• Universality: A broad base of scientific
data is critical for the elaboration
of international standards-setting
activities. Therefore, institutions and
all interested parties throughout
the world are invited to make data
available.
The membership of expert consultations
is of critical importance. The credibility
and acceptability of any conclusions and
recommendations depend to a very large
degree on the objectivity, scientific skill
and overall competence of the members
who formulate them.
For this reason, great care is taken in the
selection of experts invited to participate.
Those selected must be pre-eminent in
their specialty, have the highest respect of
their scientific peers, and be impartial and 23
indisputably objective in their judgement.
They are appointed in their own personal
right – not as government representatives
or as spokespeople for organizations – and
their inputs are theirs alone. Experts are
invited through a “call for experts” to
be considered in the selection process
and inclusion on rosters as appropriate.
Scientists from all parts of the world are
encouraged to apply.
Some experts, especially those on
continuing committees, remain members
for long periods and thereby develop an
invaluable institutional memory. A large
amount of scientifically based food data
have been generated by expert meetings
convened and serviced jointly by FAO and
WHO.
Two such groups, the Joint FAO/WHO
Meetings on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) and
the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on
Food Additives (JECFA), have for many
years produced internationally acclaimed
data that are widely used by governments,
industry and research centres. Their input
into the work of the Codex Commission
is of fundamental importance, and
the publications resulting from their
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Codex and science
activities are acclaimed international
references. The safety assessments
and evaluations performed by JECFA,
like those performed by JMPR, are
based on the best scientific information
available, comprising inputs from many
authoritative sources.
JEMRA, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert
Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment,
began its work in 2000. JEMRA aims
to optimize the use of microbiological
risk assessment as the scientific basis for
risk management decisions that address
microbiological hazards in foods. Its
assessments and other advice contribute
to the development of Codex standards,
codes of hygienic practice and other
guidelines in the area of food hygiene and
provide the scientific basis for this work.
One of the strengths of the Codex and
FAO and WHO relationship in scientific
matters is its flexibility. In recent years,
FAO and WHO have held expert scientific
24
consultations on a broad range of matters.
Not all of these have resulted in the
development of new Codex standards, as
sometimes the best way of managing food
safety risks is determined to be through
other means. FAO and WHO also provide
advice on how alternative means of risk
management can be brought about.
FAO and WHO are not the only
sources of scientific excellence on which
Codex depends. Codex encourages other
scientifically based intergovernmental
organizations to contribute to the joint
FAO and WHO scientific system. The
International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) provides advice and support on
levels of radionuclide contamination in
foods and on food irradiation. The World
Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
provides advice on animal health, on
animal diseases affecting humans and on
the linkages between animal health and
food safety.
 Codex and consumers
From their beginnings, FAO and WHO have promoted
the improvement of quality and safety standards
applied to food. The highest priority of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission is to protect the health of
consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade.
Codex Alimentarius on the Internet:
www.codexalimentarius.net
fao / 19786 / G. BIZZARRI
Commitment in the interest
of consumers
Since its inception, the Codex Alimentarius
Commission, together with its subsidiary
committees, has given top priority to the
protection and interests of consumers in
the formulation of food standards and
related activities.
Other United Nations (UN) bodies
have also recognized the importance of
consumer protection and, in 1985, a UN
General Assembly Resolution gave rise
to the Guidelines for consumer protection,
published in 1986. These guidelines
identify food as one of three priority
areas that are of essential concern to the
25
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Codex and consumers
health of consumers, and the document
specifically identifies the Codex
Alimentarius as the reference point for
consumer protection with regard to food.
Two relevant conferences held early in
the 1990s were: the 1991 FAO/WHO
Conference on Food Standards,
Chemicals in Food and Food Trade
(held in cooperation with GATT),
which recommended continuing and
strengthened consumer participation in
food-related decision-making at national
and international levels; and the 1992
FAO/WHO International Conference
on Nutrition, which recommended
that consumers be protected through
improved food quality and safety, and
outlined measures to accomplish that
recommendation.
Furthermore, in 1993, FAO held an
expert consultation on the Integration of
Consumer Interests in Food Control.
26
Food commodity and general
standards
Both Codex subsidiary bodies and the
Commission give the highest priority to
consumer interests in the formulation of
commodity and general standards. The
adopted format for standards reflects the
emphasis that Codex places on ensuring
that consumers receive products that
are of a minimum acceptable quality,
are safe and do not present a health
hazard. Format provisions for commodity
standards, including the name of the
standard, its scope, description, weights and
measures and labelling, are intended to
ensure that the consumer is not misled
and to induce confidence that the food
item purchased is what the label says
it is. The provision covering essential
composition and quality factors ensures that
the consumer will not receive a product
below a minimum acceptable standard.
The provisions concerning food additives
and contaminants and hygiene are aimed at
protecting the health of consumers.
The Codex Alimentarius contains more
than 200 standards in the prescribed
Purpose of the Codex Guidelines
on Nutrition Labelling
To ensure that nutrition labelling is effective:
“In providing the consumer with information
about a food so that a wise choice of food can be
made ...”
format for individual foods or groups of
foods. In addition, it includes the General
Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged
Foods, the General Guidelines on
Claims and the Guidelines on Nutrition
Labelling, all of which are aimed at
ensuring honest practices in the sale of
food while also providing guidance to
consumers in their choice of products.
Other general standards for food hygiene,
food additives, contaminants and toxins
in food and for irradiated foods are of
pre-eminent importance in protecting
consumers’ health, and they are valued
widely for this purpose.
Similarly, MRLs for pesticides and
veterinary drugs and maximum limits for
food additives and contaminants have been
established to ensure that consumers are
not exposed to unsafe levels of hazardous
materials.
General principles, guidelines
and recommended codes
of practice
Instruments such as principles and codes
have been developed for the express
purpose of protecting the health of
consumers against food-borne hazards.
For example, general principles have been
developed for the use of food additives,
food import and export inspection and
certification and the addition of essential
nutrients to foods.
The Codex Alimentarius contains
wide-ranging guidelines for the protection
of consumers, including such diverse
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Codex and consumers
Food quality and safety
The 1993 FAO Expert Consultation on the
Integration of Consumer Interests in Food
Control identified the following issues as being
of particular concern to consumers:
• Standards. Consumers feel that they do not
always get fair value for their money. They
are discontented with food that spoils or
fails to meet expectations in taste, aroma
and palatability.
• Nutritional quality. In many developing
countries, adulteration deprives consumers
of nutritional value. In developed countries,
consumers are dissatisfied with inadequate
nutrient information on labels.
• Food control processes. While consumers are
aware that food control regulations exist,
they are not convinced that they are applied
effectively. Some food producers and
distributors feel that they can ignore the law
with impunity.
• Information. Consumers believe that
government and industry do not provide
enough information to enable them to make
an informed choice. Very often, labels on
food do not carry adequate, easy-to-read
information. Information from government,
industry and other sources is often not clear
or may be conflicting.
• Environmental contamination. Consumers’
concern has grown rapidly over possible
environmental contamination of the
food supply during the various stages of
production, harvesting, processing, storage
and distribution. They lack confidence
in the ability of food control services to
provide the necessary protection.
• Irradiation and biotechnology. Consumers feel
that some processes using new technology
are unsafe because they have not been
adequately evaluated. Reliable information
about newer technologies is not always
available.
subjects as the Establishment and
Application of Microbiological Criteria
for Foods and Levels for Radionuclides
in Foods Following Accidental Nuclear
Contamination for Use in International
Trade.
It also contains codes of practice,
most of which are codes of hygienic
practice providing guidance on the
production of food that is safe and
suitable for consumption – in other
words, their purpose is to protect the
health of consumers. The Recommended
International Code of Practice – General
Principles of Food Hygiene applies to
all foods. It is particularly important in
protecting consumers because it lays
a firm foundation for food safety and
follows the food chain from primary
production through to final consumption,
highlighting the key hygiene controls
required at each stage.
27
New areas: animal feed
and foods derived from
biotechnology
Consumer concerns in the wake of the
bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE), or “mad cow”, crisis of the early
1990s led Codex to take up the question
of the safety of feed for food-producing
animals. The Commission went even
further than responding to the immediate
crisis, and the resulting Code of Practice
on Good Animal Feeding takes into
account all relevant aspects of animal
health and the environment in order to
minimize risks to consumers’ health. It
applies to the production and use of all
materials destined for animal feed and
feed ingredients at all levels, whether
produced industrially or on a farm.
It also includes grazing or free-range
feeding, forage crop production and
aquaculture.
The Codex Principles for the Risk
Analysis of Foods Derived from Modern
Biotechnology were developed on the
basis of a pre-market safety evaluation
of these foods on a case-by-case basis.
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Codex and consumers

The Principles provide for post-market Information

monitoring of potential consumer
health effects and nutritional effects, as The Codex Alimentarius Secretariat
appropriate. Two detailed guidelines on disseminates Codex documents to
the conduct of safety assessments, one international consumers’ organizations
for foods from DNA-modified plants and and provides information on request.
the other for foods from DNA-modified It also distributes all Commission
micro-organisms, include consideration documents and those of its subsidiary
of both intended and unintended effects committees to Codex Contact Points in
of the genetic modification and an member countries. This is done in the
assessment of possible allergenicity. expectation that they will be forwarded to
nationally based consumers’ organizations
for comment as required. All of these
Consumers’ participation documents are publicly available on the
Codex Web site.
Since its beginning, the Commission has
welcomed the participation of consumers,
whose organizations have been
represented at its sessions since 1965.
The involvement of consumers in
the Commission’s work has been the
subject of explicit discussions within the
Commission. Consumers’ participation
28 in decision-making in relation to food
standards and the Joint FAO/WHO Food
Standards Programme, for instance, was
an item on the agenda of the Twentieth
Session of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission, when it was agreed that
it is necessary to continue working
in close cooperation with consumers’
organizations.
Because of its international nature, the
Commission is aware that it can only
go part of the way towards involving
consumers in its food standardization and
related work. Therefore, the Twentieth
Session of the Commission invited
governments to involve consumers more
effectively in the decision-making process
at the national level:

“The Commission has continued to involve

consumer interests in its work while
recognizing that it is at the national level
that consumers can make their most valuable
and effective input.”
 Codex and the international food trade
According to FAO trade statistics, the value of trade
in agricultural products exceeded US$500 billion in
2003 – an all-time record.
Codex Alimentarius on the Internet:
www.codexalimentarius.net
fao / 16551 / R. FAIDUTTI
The officials and experts who laid the
foundations and determined the direction
taken by activities of the Joint FAO/
WHO Food Standards Programme and
the Codex Alimentarius Commission
were first and foremost concerned with
protecting the health of consumers and
ensuring fair practices in the food trade.
They felt that, if all countries
harmonized their food laws and adopted
internationally agreed standards, such
issues would be dealt with naturally.
Through harmonization, they envisaged
fewer barriers to trade and freer
movement of food products among
countries, which would be to the benefit
of farmers and their families and would
29
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Codex and the international food trade
The General Principles of the Codex
Alimentarius state:
“The publication of the Codex Alimentarius
is intended to guide and promote the
elaboration and establishment of definitions
and requirements for foods to assist in their
harmonization and in doing so to facilitate
international trade.”
also help to reduce hunger and poverty.
The founders concluded that the Codex
Alimentarius would resolve many of the
difficulties that were impeding freedom of
trade, a view that is reflected in Purpose of
the Codex Alimentarius, described in the
General Principles.
A principal concern of national
governments is that food imported from
other countries should be safe and not
30
jeopardize the health of consumers or
pose a threat to the health and safety
of their animal and plant populations.
Consequently, governments of importing
countries have introduced mandatory
laws and regulations to eliminate or
minimize such threats. In the area of food,
animal and plant control, these measures
could be conducive to the creation of
barriers to intercountry food trade.
The Uruguay Round and world
food trade
The Uruguay Round Agreements
represent a milestone in the multilateral
trading system because, for the first time,
they incorporated agriculture and food
under operationally effective rules and
disciplines.
Country participants in the round of
negotiations recognized that measures
ostensibly adopted by national
governments to protect the health of their
consumers, animals and plants could
become disguised barriers to trade as well
as being discriminatory. Consequently, the
SPS and TBT Agreements were included
SPS Agreement: Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary
and Phytosanitary Measures
TBT Agreement: Agreement on Technical
Barriers to Trade
Article 2.2 of the SPS Agreement states:
“Members shall ensure that any sanitary and
phytosanitary measure is applied only to the
extent necessary to protect human, animal
or plant life or health, is based on scientific
principles and is not maintained without
sufficient scientific evidence ...”.
Article 3.1 of the SPS Agreement states:
“To harmonize sanitary and phytosanitary
measures on as wide a basis as possible,
Members shall base their sanitary and
phytosanitary measures on international
standards, guidelines or recommendations,
where they exist, except as otherwise provided
for in this Agreement.”
Article 2.6 of the TBT Agreement states:
“With a view to harmonizing technical
regulations on as wide a basis as possible,
Members shall play a full part, within the
limits of their resources, in the preparation by
appropriate international standardizing bodies
of international standards for products for
which they have either adopted, or expect to
adopt, technical regulations.”
among the Multilateral Agreements on
Trade in Goods, annexed to the 1994
Marrakesh Agreement, which established
the World Trade Organization.
The SPS Agreement acknowledges that
governments have the right to take
sanitary and phytosanitary measures
necessary for the protection of human
health. However, the Agreement requires
them to apply those measures only to the
extent required to protect human health.
It does not permit member governments
to discriminate by applying different
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Codex and the international food trade
requirements to different countries
where the same or similar conditions
prevail, unless there is sufficient scientific
justification for doing so.
The TBT Agreement seeks to ensure that
technical regulations and standards,
including packaging, marking and
labelling requirements, and analytical
procedures for assessing conformity with
technical regulations and standards do not
create unnecessary obstacles to trade.
It is noteworthy that the SPS and TBT
Agreements both acknowledge the
importance of harmonizing standards
internationally so as to minimize
or eliminate the risk of sanitary,
phytosanitary and other technical
standards becoming barriers to trade.
In its pursuance of harmonization, with
regard to food safety, the SPS Agreement
has identified and chosen the standards,
guidelines and recommendations
established by the Codex Alimentarius
Commission for food additives,
veterinary drug and pesticide residues,
contaminants, methods of analysis and
sampling, and codes and guidelines
of hygienic practice. This means that
Codex standards are considered
scientifically justified and are accepted as
the benchmarks against which national
measures and regulations are evaluated.
Considerable interest in the
Commission’s activities has been
stimulated by the specific recognition
of Codex standards, guidelines and
recommendations within the SPS
Agreement, as well as the importance
assumed by Codex standards in the
Technical Regulations and Standards
provisions contained in Article 2 of the TBT
Agreement. Consequently, attendance at
Codex meetings, especially by developing
countries, has markedly increased. This is
a welcome development, particularly as
both Agreements direct members, within
the limits of their resources, “to play a full
part” in the work of international standards
organizations and their subsidiaries.
The adoption of Codex standards
as scientifically justified norms for the
purpose of the SPS and TBT Agreements
is of immense significance. The standards
have become an integral part of the legal
framework within which international
trade is being facilitated through
harmonization. Already, they have been
used as the benchmark in international
trade disputes, and it is expected that they
will be used increasingly in this regard.
Codex and
other trade agreements
The Uruguay Round Agreements allow
groups of member countries to enter into
trade agreements among themselves for
the purpose of liberalizing trade. The
North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) between Canada, Mexico and
the United States of America is such an
agreement. Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay
and Uruguay have signed the Treaty
of Asunción, establishing the Southern 31
Common Market (MERCOSUR). In Asia
and the Pacific, economic cooperation
arrangements have been formalized
under Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC). All three regional groupings
have adopted measures consistent with
Codex is quoted in
trade agreements
Codex and its work have been quoted in many
bilateral and plurilateral trade agreements,
including:
• Mexico–Bolivia, 1995
• Baltic Area Free Trade Agreement, 1996
• Chile–Mexico, 1997
• Bulgaria–Turkey, 1998
• Central America–Chile, 1999
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), 2000
• Turkey–Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2002
• Australia–Thailand, 2005
• United States of America–Australia, 2005
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Codex and the international food trade
principles embraced by the Uruguay
Round Agreements and that relate to
Codex standards.
NAFTA includes two ancillary
agreements dealing with sanitary and
phytosanitary measures and technical
barriers to trade. With regard to food
safety measures, Codex standards are
cited as basic requirements to be met
by the three member countries in terms
of the health and safety aspects of food
products.
MERCOSUR’s Food Commission has
recommended a range of Codex standards
for adoption by member countries and is
using other Codex standards as points of
reference in continuing deliberations.
32
APEC has drafted a Mutual
Recognition Arrangement on
Conformity Assessment of Foods
and Food Products. This calls for
consistency with the requirements of
the SPS and TBT Agreements as well
as with Codex standards, including
the recommendations of the Codex
Committee on Food Import and Export
Inspection and Certification Systems.
Reference to the Codex Alimentarius
occurs in many bilateral and plurilateral
trade agreements in addition to those
quoted above. European Union directives,
as well, frequently refer to the Codex
Alimentarius as the basis for their
requirements.
 More than Codex: FAO, WHO
and wider partnerships
FAO and WHO complement the Commission’s
activities significantly in a number of practical ways.
FAO and WHO help developing countries to apply
Codex standards and strengthen national food control
systems and take advantage of international food trade
opportunities. One of the most important contributions
of FAO and WHO to the Commission’s work is to
provide scientific advice, especially risk assessments,
developed by expert committees and consultations.
This is described in detail in the chapter on “Codex
and science”.
Codex Alimentarius on the Internet:
www.codexalimentarius.net
fao / 19017 / R. FAIDUTTI
Building national capacities
To adopt Codex standards, countries
require an adequate food law, as well as a
technical and administrative infrastructure
with the capacity to implement it and
ensure compliance. For many years, FAO
and WHO have been providing assistance
to developing countries to enable them to
take full advantage of the Commission’s
work. This effort has been enhanced to
a considerable degree by financial and
technical support from industrialized
countries and international funding
institutions.
33
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
More than Codex: FAO, WHO and wider partnerships
Technical assistance
Assistance given to developing countries
has included:
• establishing and strengthening
national food control systems,
including the formulation and
revision of food legislation (acts and
regulations) and food standards in
accordance with Codex standards;
• helping with the establishment
and strengthening of food control
agencies, as well as with training
in the necessary technical and
administrative skills to ensure their
effective operation;
• strengthening laboratory analysis and
food inspection capabilities;
• conducting workshops and training
courses, not only for transferring
information, knowledge and skills
associated with food control, but also
to increase awareness of the Codex
Alimentarius and activities carried
34 out by the Commission;
• providing training in all aspects
of food control associated with
protecting the health of consumers
and ensuring honest practices in the
sale of food;
• extending guidance on matters
directly related to Codex activities,
such as safety assessment of food
produced using biotechnology;
• developing and publishing manuals
and texts that are associated with
food quality control and that
provide recommendations for the
development and operation of food
quality and safety systems;
• developing and publishing training
manuals on food inspection and
quality and safety assurance,
particularly with respect to the
application of the HACCP system in
the food-processing industry.
Standards and Trade
Development Facility
Based at the headquarters of WTO, the
Standards and Trade Development Facility
is a global programme for capacity-
building and technical assistance in
sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) matters
related to trade. It was established in 2001
when the Executive Heads of FAO, OIE,
the World Bank, WHO and WTO issued
a joint communiqué committing the
institutions to exploring new technical and
financial mechanisms for coordination and
resource mobilization to assist developing
countries in the establishment and
implementation of appropriate measures.
The Facility is both a financing and a
coordinating mechanism. It provides
grant financing for developing countries
seeking to comply with international SPS
standards and hence gain or maintain
market access. It also provides a forum for
dialogue on SPS technical assistance issues
among its five partner organizations and
interested donors.
The Facility aims to:
• act as a reference point for
good practice by implementing
demonstration projects with
innovative approaches;
• address longer-term issues of capacity
and compliance, rather than involve
itself in short-term, policy-driven
"firefighting" projects; and
• offer technical expertise and
experience to developing countries in
this highly technical area.
FAO/WHO Trust Fund for
participation in Codex
Launched in 2003 by the Directors-
General of FAO and WHO, the Trust Fund
is seeking US$40 million over a 12-year
period to help developing countries and
countries in transition to increase their
participation in the vital work of the
Commission. Increased participation will
be achieved by: helping regulators and
food experts from all areas of the world
to participate in international standards-
setting work in the framework of Codex;
and enhancing their capacity to help
establish effective food safety and quality
standards and fair practices in the food
trade, both in the framework of the Codex
Alimentarius and in their own countries.
In 2004, its first year of operation, the
Trust Fund helped experts from more
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
More than Codex: FAO, WHO and wider partnerships
than 90 developing countries to attend
and participate in the Codex standards-
setting process. The Trust Fund is based at
the headquarters of WHO.
Sharing information
Access to information about food
standards and food regulatory
requirements is critical in today’s world.
Governments and traders need to know
the requirements of their trading partners;
consumers and the media have the right
to have access to a safety assessment of
potential hazards in the food supply; and
everyone needs to know how to respond
correctly in an emergency situation when
something in the system “goes wrong”.
Fortunately, the Internet allows rapid
access to all types of information about
regulatory matters concerning food.
However, sometimes the information
available is excessive, inconsistent or
of doubtful quality. The international
organizations associated with Codex
have therefore combined their efforts
to provide easy access to authoritative
information on food standards and
related matters.
International Portal on Food Safety,
Animal and Plant Health
International information in the Portal
has been included through collaboration
with OIE, WHO, WTO and the Secretariat
of the UN Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD), as well as the Secretariats
of the International Plant Protection
Convention (IPPC) and the Codex
Alimentarius Commission. The system
integrates content from FAO’s database of
national legislation, FAOLEX.
Access is also available through the
Portal to the databases of the United States
Department of Agriculture, the United
States Food and Drug Administration,
the Health and Consumer Protection
Directorate-General of the European
Commission and the regulations of several
other countries. The list of contributors
continues to grow.
Types of information available through
the Portal are:
• official national standards and
regulations;
• national scientific evaluations and risk
assessments;
• notifications of new or pending laws
and regulations;
• Codex standards, guidelines and
MRLs;
• risk assessments and safety
evaluations carried out by FAO
and WHO expert committees and
consultations.
The Portal is managed by FAO on behalf
of all of the participating agencies.
International Food Safety
Authorities Network
INFOSAN promotes the exchange of food
safety information among food safety
authorities at national and international
levels. A food safety emergency network
is an integral part of INFOSAN and will 35
implement the emergency information
exchange system recommended by the
Codex Alimentarius Commission in its
Guideline on the Exchange of Information
in Food Control Emergency Situations.
WHO maintains a list of food safety
emergency contact points and envisages
the strengthening of information exchange
between national authorities in the case
of international health emergencies.
These include emergencies where food is
the vehicle causing serious international
public health risks. INFOSAN is managed
by WHO.
Regional conferences and global fora
on food safety
The Global Fora of Food Safety
Regulators provide the opportunity for
food safety regulators from all regions of
the world to meet together to consider,
discuss and share experiences on food
safety issues that are of concern to
everyone. The Fora are dedicated to
sharing experiences in the management
of food safety. FAO and WHO also
convene regional food safety conferences
that allow a more detailed analysis of
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
More than Codex: FAO, WHO and wider partnerships
food safety problems in the light of
regional practices and cultures.
Two sessions of the Global Fora have
been organized by FAO and WHO – the
first in Marrakesh, Morocco, in January
2002, and the second in Bangkok,
Thailand, in October 2004. The series of
regional food safety conferences spanned
the period 2002 to 2005. The proceedings
and other information on both the Fora
and the regional conferences are available
from the Fora’s Web site.
36
Some useful Web sites
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO): www.fao.org
• World Health Organization (WHO):
www.who.int
• World Trade Organization (WTO):
www.wto.org
• Standards and Trade Development Facility:
www.standardsfacility.org
• Codex Trust Fund: www.who.int/foodsafety/
codex/trustfund/en/
• International Portal on Food Safety, Animal
and Plant Health: www.ipfsaph.org
• International Food Safety Authorities
Network (INFOSAN): www.who.int/
foodsafety/fs_management/infosan/en/
• Global Fora of Food Safety Regulators:
www.foodsafetyforum.org
 Codex and the future
It is difficult to imagine a world without the Codex
Alimentarius. It has been said that if Codex did not
exist, somebody would have to invent it. Consumer
demand, recognition by WTO, the growing attendance
at Codex meetings and the greater involvement of
developing countries all point to a long and active life
for the Commission.
Codex Alimentarius on the Internet:
www.codexalimentarius.net
fao / 16066 / G.BIZZARRI
Codex activities of the future will differ
considerably from what they have been
until now. Scientific developments
in fields relating to food, changing
attitudes of consumers, new approaches
to food control, changing perceptions
of government and food industry
responsibilities and changing food quality
and safety concepts will present the
Commission with new challenges and,
conceivably, the need for new standards
and new types of standards.
The consumer protection and food safety
elements of the Codex Alimentarius,
which are the domain of the “horizontal
37
 Understanding the Codex Alimentarius
Codex and the future
committees”, have become very important
for consumers and trading partners, while
the compositional or “recipe” elements
of individual commodity standards do
not attract as much interest as before. At
present, interest in the quality aspects of
Codex standards remains, although the
importance attributed to such issues in
the future will depend on community
attitudes and demands.
The application of biotechnology to
food processing and production of raw
food materials is currently under scrutiny
by the Commission, which is continually
examining new concepts and systems
associated with food safety and the
protection of consumers against health
hazards. These topical matters provide
some insight into the direction that the
Commission’s activities are likely to take
in the future.
The Codex system is changing, too.
We can expect to see major changes in
38 the traditional committee structure with
Codex on the Internet
www.codexalimentarius.net
For up-to-date information on:
• Codex meetings and reports
• Standards and other recommendations
• Statutes and procedures
much more involvement of developing
countries as host countries of newly
designed Codex committees and task
forces. This is an exciting development.
Whatever happens, it would be fair
to claim that the Codex Alimentarius’
contribution to the betterment of
humankind is one of the finer and more
extraordinary achievements of the
twentieth century – and is set to continue
into the twenty-first.
 Abbreviations

APEC MERCOSUR
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Southern Common Market

ASEAN MRL
Association of Southeast Asian Nations maximum residue limit

CBD NAFTA
Convention on Biological Diversity North American Free Trade Agreement

DNA NGO
deoxyribonucleic acid non-governmental organization

FAO OECD
Food and Agriculture Organization of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
United Nations and Development

GATT OIE
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade World Organisation for Animal Health 39

HACCP SPS Agreement

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Agreement on the Application of Sanitary
Point and Phytosanitary Measures

IAEA TBT Agreement

International Atomic Energy Agency Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade

INFOSAN UN
International Food Safety Authorities United Nations
Network
UNECE
IPPC United Nations Economic Commission for
International Plant Protection Convention Europe

JECFA WHO
Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on World Health Organization
Food Additives
WTO
JEMRA World Trade Organization
Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on
Microbiological Risk Assessment

JMPR
Joint FAO/WHO Meetings on Pesticide
Residues
 www.codexalimentarius.net

The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of international food standards that have been adopted by
the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Codex standards cover all the main foods, whether
processed, semi-processed or raw. In addition, materials used in the further processing of food
products are included to the extent necessary for achieving the principal objectives of the code –
protecting the health of consumers and facilitating fair practices in the food trade.
Codex provisions concern the hygienic and nutritional quality of food, including microbiological
norms, food additives, pesticide and veterinary drug residues, contaminants, labelling and
presentation, and methods of sampling and risk analysis.
As well as individual standards, advisory codes of practice, guidelines and other recommended
measures form an important part of the overall food code.
The Codex Alimentarius can safely claim to be the most important international reference point
in matters concerning food quality. Its creation, moreover, has generated food-related scientific
research and greatly increased the world community's awareness of the vital issues at stake –
food quality, safety and public health.

ISBN 978-92-5-105614-1

9 789251 056141
TC/M/A0850E/1/11.06/5100